New to the stockmarket

Cramer is a smart guy, he knows what hes talking about just as much as the next guy, but you have to realize hes trying to entertain you first, and gives advice second. I really never took him seriously becuase he seems to make really general statements, that I have the "okay tell me something i don't know" reaction too. And its not like I am a wall street veteran or anything, I was in your shoes a couple month's ago. Now I have a pretty solid understanding of the market place after reading alot of yahoo finance stuff and other books.

Use the search button on the site and you will find a bunch of threads on this topic:

I would suggest reading "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" for starts and then read books by Peter Lynch, Ben Graham (Intelligent Investor, chapters 8 and 20 specifically), etc. Cramer's books are actually not a terrible read for a novice looking to get familiar with market jargon.

Read Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg.com, etc. everyday.

Cramer was an excellent contrarian indicator during the crash. He's not all bad, but definitely not a place to get your investment advice from.

What worked best for me was to just start following the markets, ie reading the news, know what is going on in the different markets, etc... It really doesn't take too much effort, and in my opinion is a much better way to start than picking up a book having no idea.

Pick up a basic book to understand the jargon of the markets and how it works. After that, just watch CNBC and Bloomberg and you'll get a better understanding.

Open a papertrading account. Perhaps Thinkorswim or investopedia. Experiment relentlessly after that.

Cramer's Mad Money first got me interested in the stock market, and Confessions of a Street Addict was also a great read.

When I was new, I found the free articles at http://garsworld.com/mystory.htm very helpful to learn how to make the most money as a small-time individual trader and what really explains how stock prices move. The free Basics of Trading Course on the InformedTrades website is also an extremely useful overview.

You should also check out the classic stock market book Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Jesse Livermore.

Read the WSJ every day and read summary articles from Yahoo Finance or Bloomberg as to what moved the markets that day. You may not comprehend it all at first, but if you keep reading, things will become easier to understand.

Cramer is a trader, not an investor.

thanks all!

Start papertrading and you will naturally start following the markets.

One other book I found helpful for getting better in active trading was The Market Maker's Edge by Josh Lukeman.

Just be sure to avoid paying a lot of money for 'trading education.' There are so many excellent free and low-cost materials/services out there now.